China still safe amid epidemic

CORONAVIRUS                   CHINA

By Wilson Abaho Tabamuzigu 

For about a week, authorities at my university had been advising us against leaving apartments without masks, but without clear explanation.

I disregarded the advice thinking that they were simply measures to thwart the cold (flu) that usually comes with winter especially now that it was expected to snow soon.

I believe in my strong immunity against such sorts of ailments. I only realized that something was probably not right when I took a subway for shopping and everyone at the station wore masks and looked at me in bewilderment for not having one. Anyways, I shopped and returned but still in my green zone.

A few days later, news began circulating that some ten or so people had succumbed to an unknown virus. I decided to consult two of our medical students who confirmed and medically briefed me that it was a fatal virus. Trembling and panicking, I began putting on the earlier ignored mask even in my bedroom.

On the evening of 22^nd January, messages began circulating on all students' social media pages informing us that Wuhan public transport system (trains, subway, air transport, and buses) would be suspended the following day (23^rd) at 10:30 in order to circumscribe the spread of a new virus known as "novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)".

As a leader, I circulated this info further to all the Ugandan community platforms in China. However, I thought this suspension would end late that evening or the following day- I didn't know a sine die quarantine had begun! As I write, it is 13 days and still counting.

Experience after the lockdown (quarantine)
Life seemed normal for the first two days. On the third day, we were told that the places would all close and thus we needed to stock the necessities. What followed was a competition as people scrambled for items and by 13:00, most of the shops including Walmart had closed.

Since then, the apartment gate is closed with 3 padlocks and in case one wants to move out (with a genuinely convincing reason), you are strictly given 30 minutes. Most of the services are provided by the university.

The major effects of the lockdown have been: psychological anguish and scarcity of supplies.

The fact and good news is that all the 71 Ugandans in Wuhan are still safe but the restriction on movements has generated a general feeling of isolation and discomfort especially when some countries began evacuating their citizens.

The other most psychologically bothering issue is the indefinite postponement of classes. A new semester that was supposed to begin on the 15^th of February has since been postponed till "further notice". The fact of not knowing when the next semester is beginning brings uncertainty and disconcertment.

Commodities such as drinking water, milk, etc. are scarce and very expensive as a result of the closure of markets and shops. Supermarkets open once every two days for only 3 hours.

Long queues, masks, and silence are what characterize those days. Prices for most items have increased by above 10 RMB (Chinese currency), for example, a box of packed milk usually costs 67 RMB but as of 1^st February, I bought it at 80 RMB.

What the government of China is doing to contain the situation
The first measure was the quarantine where since 23^rd January, no one is allowed to leave or enter Wuhan city. Movements have been restricted to minimize person-to-person contact transmission. The entire city was sprayed with disinfectant.

The Premier H.E Li Keqiang camped in the city of Wuhan to ensure the regulations are adhered to and express the government's solidarity with the 11 million Wuhan citizens.

His presence in the area saw the construction of a 1,000-bed hospital in a matter of days and over 200 patients treated and discharged. In addition to the premier's presence, it is said over 1000 military medical officers have been dispatched to give the civilian medics back up and medical supplies have been availed sufficiently.

How universities are helping us (Ugandan students)
There are over 30 universities in the city of Wuhan and Ugandans are distributed among 11 universities. Each university handles the matter in its own way but most of them including mine provide students with food (all meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner), free masks, daily temperature checks, free electricity, disinfectant handwashing soaps, standby emergency contacts, etc.

Even those universities which do not provide these services directly, provide them in some other forms such as: doing shopping for students and ensuring that school canteens are open, etc.

I thank our two governments (Uganda and China) for cooperating to ensure our safety and well-being. With a population of over 11 million citizens, the government of China collects millions of dollars daily from Wuhan city from among other things, public transport.

But for everyone's (including foreigners like myself) safety, it has been determined to suspend businesses and incur losses. This cannot be taken for granted. Our government through the embassy has given us comforting messages from time to time. We appreciate!

Any further assistance including evacuation is most highly welcome.

The writer is a student of Masters of International Relations

Hubei University, China